Cooking bacon in the microwave: don’t use the paper towel method

Cooking bacon in the microwave… the bacon-ground to the story

I had been invited to a friend’s house. It was just 9.17am, so it was far too early to arrive with a bottle of wine as a gift. I improvised by grabbing a pack of bacon that I had been thinking about for some time. Upon arrival, my suggestion of a bacon sandwich was greeted with approval. I wandered off to the kitchen to do my thing. Unable to locate the frying pan, I suggested cooking the bacon in the microwave. I could have grilled it but foil was not apparent, and I didn’t fancy the clean-up. Unsure of how long the bacon would need to get crispy (floppy bacon is upsetting), I fired up Google on my phone and found this article at Wikihow.

Pros and bacons of the Wikihow methods

Wikihow has two methods of cooking bacon in the microwave. Both are fairly healthy compared to frying it in a pan swimming with oil, and the recommended cooking time is 90 seconds per rasher however I would say 60 seconds in a 800-1000 watt microwave (what power microwave you have, and the fattiness of your bacon will affect this).

The first involves paper towels underneath and on top of the bacon so that the fat can be drawn away from the rashers and allow the bacon to get cripsier. The advantage of this method is that you just have to throw the paper in the bin afterwards. The disadvantage is that you will almost certainly end up with paper towels/kitchen roll inextricably stuck to the crispiest, nicest bits of the bacon.

The second version is to drape the rashers of bacon around the edge of a bowl that has a wider plate underneath it. The fat drips into the bowl or onto the plate and the bacon is crispy again. More washing up this way, although significantly faster than grilling or frying, no bits of paper stuck to it, and healthier too. Also you can use the collected bacon fat to fry an egg afterwards.

Bacon-clusion

Q: What’s worse than having to clean up a load of greasy dishes and pans when you have just eaten a bacon sandwich and feel lethargic?

A: Trying to peel bits of paper towel off some delicious, crispy bacon when you are excited about a bacon sandwich.

Q: What’s better than both these things?

A: Cooking bacon in the microwave using the bowl method, or facing up to the washing up and just grilling it.